The Georgian-Russian talks held in Moscow on March 23-25 failed to narrow the gap existing over the timeframe of withdrawal of Russia’s two military bases stationed in Batumi and Akhalkalaki. The sides will try to make a breakthrough during the next round of negotiations scheduled for April in Tbilisi.
“[During the talks] the sides have pushed forward their positions regarding the timeframe of functioning and withdrawal of Russian military bases, which do not coincide with each other so far,” the information note issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry on March 25 reads.
However, both the Russian and Georgian sides refrain from commenting on the particular details of the three-day talks in Moscow. “It is inadmissible to make any comments in the course of negotiations and therefore, the Georgian delegation obeys this rule,” the statement issued by the Georgian Foreign Ministry on March 24 reads.
The Russian daily Kommersant reported on March 24 that Georgia is ready to agree on the pullout of Russian military bases from Georgia within four years – before January 1, 2009 – on the condition that during this period these bases will operate in a “pull-out regime.” Moreover, according to the same paper, Georgia is also ready to raise some USD 10-15 million from international donors for the transportation of personnel and military hardware to Russia. But the Georgian Foreign Ministry also denied this report.
The Russian side stressed during the talks that the military bases should be withdrawn in a “well-organized manner” meaning that at first infrastructure should be created in Russia for those servicemen who will be pulled out from Georgia. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov says that around USD 250-300 million will be needed for this purpose.
The Georgian Parliament’s resolution against Russian military bases, which was adopted on March 10, instructs the executive government of Georgia to take measures, including the halting the issuance of entry visas to Russian military servicemen, if an agreement over a “reasonable” timeframe for their withdrawal is not reached with Russia before May 15, 2005. The Georgian parliamentarians consider the period before January 1, 2006 as a “reasonable” timeframe for the bases’ withdrawal.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, during the Moscow talks the sides also held consultations over setting up a joint anti-terrorist center.
“The Russian delegation suggested to conclude an agreement over setting up a joint anti-terrorist center as soon as possible, so that the center could start its operations before the withdrawal of the Russian bases is completed,” the Foreign Ministry information note reads.
During the Moscow talks the sides also discussed the problems related to the Gudauta military base, which is located in breakaway Abkhazia. According to the Russian side the base is currently used by the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the Abkhaz conflict zone. However Tbilisi insists on international monitoring of the base in an attempt to verify the complete disbanding of this base.